The resistance to women in ski jumping makes frustratingly little sense when you recognize what female jumpers can do. “The gap between men and women in ski jumping is so small, you can’t believe it,” Bernardi told me. “Every year, with girls like Sarah, the girls are flying better, better, better.” Today, he said, there might not actually be another sport in which, at the superelite level, the differences in male and female capability are so minimal. “Maybe there is something with horses? Equestre? But even there it is half the horse.”
Van said she believed that this is also the reason women have been excluded from the top competitions in the sport for so long. “If women can jump as far as men, what does that do to the extreme value of this sport?” she asks. “I think we scared the ski-jumping [establishment].”
There is so little difference between women and men in the sport because lightness and technique count just as much as muscle and power. A jump can be separated into four sections: the in run, where balance is crucial as the athlete pushes off a start bar and goes down a track; the jump, where within a tenth of a second the athlete transitions from rushing down the track to a hard-push takeoff; the flight, where skis are kept in V-formation, and the ideal model for the body is a kite, paper thin, but with enough surface to catch good air; and finally, the landing, which is often done in telemark style, meaning one ski in front of the other. A ski jump is measured by judges for both distance and style. Women are allowed to start from a higher point on the jump because of their lighter weight (for heavier women, this can be an advantage).

Girls can ski jump. Girls can code. Girls can do math. Girls can be astronauts. Girls can be pro photographers. Girls can be pro surfers. Girls can jump. Girls can do it.Read the article.

Thurs 11.14.13 – The lights went out in our building, the tennis courts & vending machine, the community center, and other parts of our block at about 8:20pm last night and did not come back on until after 9am this morning.

Tues 11.12.13 – Yes, it is November, which means in the annual calendar of the great city of Seal Beach, it is time for the Caterpillar earthmovers to move sand from the west/north side of the beach, under the pier, to form a sandberm on the south/east side of the pier.
One of the peculiarities of Seal Beach is that the south/east side of town is mostly a bit under sea level and a fairly elaborate series of storm drains and a long earth dyke along the Naval base protect the south side of town from flooding during high tide or winter storm surges. According to my aunt, the flooding was fairly regular back in the 60s and early 70s before the big storm drains were put in. Lake Seal Beach still occurs to a lesser extent with the sand berm.
Thus, in November, several big Caterpillar earthmovers come to the beach for a week and move sand into a berm and then in April, they reverse and move the sand back flat onto the beach. On occasion, if the berm is not up to its job, and Lake Seal Beach forms, then a smaller tractor will come and re-arrange sand.
I, of course, must go document the migratory patterns of the Yellow Semi-Annual Earthmover.
In years past I have taken photos and video, posted it here and on Flickr. This year, I decided to find as many of the photos on Flickr as possible and make a tag for easy search, I give you “The Gathering of the Earthmovers” at Flickr.
Some photos over the years on this blog:2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011

Mon 11.11.13 – Have you thought about about telling your current life to bug off while you take a flying leap into the new life you have been dreaming about only to be held back by a set of circumstances?
Photographer, designer, and all around great creative Dan Rubin is currently, due to a set of circumstances and wanting to make a leap into a new photography life, running an Indiegogo campaign to help raise funds to start his photo studio and in return you get to choose a few amazing printed art photos.
Yes, you don’t have to look at blank walls in your rooms anymore. Instead you could have original art prints in teurn for supporting a photographer to take his big leap in life.
I have known Dan for about 8 years through the web design / dev conference circuit and we have been talking about our mutual passions for photography, design, life, travel, and mobile for years. The last time we got to hang out we talked so long about photography we were both in mid-sentence when I had to leave off at Liverpool Station in London for the last train.
I respect Dan, I respect his art, his process and his character. Getting your rental car broken and your stuff stolen into while visiting one’s ill father sucks. I had my apartment in Boston broken into twice in 1995-1997 and had all my photography gear plus more stolen, not only is it horrible but when your creative outlet is also gone. But…
I also admire Dan for being willing to leap towards a creative career in photography and shift away from a full-time design career.Shall we help Dan leap?

Sat 11.09.13 – As promised, I am continuing to post photos from my shooting Ilford black & white film spree this summer.
Photo of one of the glass and steel bridges between buildings at Nokia House in Espoo, Finland, taken by Ms. Jen on 07.25.13 with her Nikon FM3a, a manual 50mm f/1.8 lens, and Ilford XP2 Super 400 film.
Previously:Spiral, Nokia House